LeBron's Passion For Pickleball Boosts The Sports Community, This CBD Company Is Also Thrilled

LeBron James made headlines this week when he and longtime business partner Maverick Carter announced they were buying a professional pickleball team, along with other NBA stars Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors.

LeBron's acquisition of an official Major League Pickleball (MLP) team bodes well for the sport and the MLP, which will increase the number of teams from 12 to 16 for the 2023 season. The ownership group includes LRMR Ventures of Carter and LeBron in Ohio and SC Holdings of New York.

"Having SC Holdings, LRMR Ventures and their amazing group as owners and investors in Major League Pickleball isn't just great for MLP, it's a watershed moment for pickleball. in general," MLP founder Steve Kuhn said.

MLP aren't the only group thrilled with LeBron's passion for Pickleball

Chris Clifford, founder and CEO of Day One Beverages, said his team was also thrilled. In January 2022, Day One Beverages became the Official CBD Partner of USA Pickleball, the national governing body for the sport.

"We are thrilled that LeBron James is embracing the pickleball community and helping to fuel the rocket-like rise the sport has seen," Clifford told Benzinga. “On day one, we got involved in pickleball because we saw a community of passionate people who wanted to make competitive, fun, high-performance sport accessible to more people.”

As of early 2022, nearly five million Americans regularly hit the pickleball courts, according to USA Pickleball, which has described the game as "the fastest growing sport during the last years". two years", with a growth rate of almost 40% over this period.

"Young and scrappy" for all ages

Despite the rapid growth, USA Pickleball CEO Stu Upson said the game remains "young and scrappy," though it definitely spans multiple generations, from tweens to post-grandparents. And it's mostly members of the latter end of this population who feel the need to avail themselves of the anti-inflammatory properties of CBD.

"We recognized early on that pickleball players loved the recovery benefits of CBD topicals and felt that an extra-strength CBD topical would fill a major unmet need in the world. within this community," said Clifford. "As a vertically integrated CBD brand, we decided to produce our topical with twice the potency of leading competitors."

In addition to Day One's CBD Sparkling Water, the company has expanded its product line to include an extra-strength 2000mg CBD Recovery Cream, to provide pickleball athletes and consumers an effective post-workout solution. recovery and relief.

"CBD is a natural choice to help these individuals focus and recover, on and off the court. We're thrilled to be among the brands and celebrities embracing pickleball and intend to continue our role as one of the most important brands in pickleball,” said Clifford.

The 2022 MLP season ends October 14-16 in Columbus, Ohio, with 48 players competing for a purse of $319,000.

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